Crime Watch

On June 9, the Rockridge Community Planning Council (RCPC) and the Greater Rockridge Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) will hold their annual joint Town Hall, this year focusing on several topics relating to public and private safety.

Are you concerned about crime in Rockridge? Are you worried about the recent surge in residential burglaries in parts of Rockridge? About assaults? About wheels stolen from parked cars? Plan to attend the special June 18 RCPC/NCPC Town Hall meeting and learn what you can do.

RCPC and NCPC are hosting a discussion with Oakland officials and Rockridge community leaders about crime, response and personal safety. Speaking at the meeting will be:

In "The Pirates of Penzance," Gilbert and Sullivan presented a view of law enforcement through the prism of doing one's duty, and turned duty into a burden:
"When constabulary duty's to be done,
"A policeman's lot is not a happy one."

How is crime in Oakland these days? Going up or going down? Staying the same? A reading of some recent reports appearing on Next Door Rockridge (rockridgeca.nextdoor.com/news_feed/) could make it seem that crime is spreading.

We have now had patrols in Lower Rockridge for over a year, since November 2013. We take this opportunity for a year-end overview, including a recap of the service and recent changes, and a review of how well the patrols have worked.

Not long ago, there was much talk in Oakland and other California cities about how best to reduce spiking rates of smart phone theft.

Public officials and law enforcement agencies settled on the possibility of requiring phone manufacturers to install a "kill switch" in smart phones to allow rightful owners to make them instantly inoperable if stolen.

Crime in Rockridge was pretty bad last fall; everyone was worried. A few concerned citizens organized crowd-funding projects to pay for security patrols in most of Beat 12. The Greater Rockridge NCPC (Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council) watched with interest but didn't participate.

The temporary contracts expired, yet many who bought them still wanted security coverage.

The NCPC has invited representatives of Safer Rockridge, the nonprofit now managing the private security contract, to speak at our April 10 meeting. We've asked them to explain:

As previously announced, Safer Rockridge, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation created to promote the public safety of the residents of Rockridge, has retained Premiere Protective Services (PPS) to provide unarmed safety patrols to the Lower Rockridge area. Patrols began in March using funds left over from the four-month pilot.

We are pleased to announce the formation of Safer Rockridge, a non-profit group formed to help organize safety ideas and initiatives in Rockridge, including the security patrols. Information about Safer Rockridge and the patrols can be found at www.saferrockridge.org.

The Safer Rockridge Security Patrols are funded by concerned Rockridge community members and businesses. The main goal of the security patrols is to enhance the safety of all Rockridge neighbors and guests on our streets and in our public spaces. The security patrols will do this by: